Author: Justin YasutakeLocation: Russian Gulch, Mendocino CountyDivemaster: Lucas MurrayWeather: 63˚F around 9am, 68˚F by 12pm. Cloudy in the morning, opening to intermittent sunshine throughout the rest of the day. Wind picked up around 11am and persisted throughout the afternoon. Ocean: Water temperature 49˚F. Swell 3-5ft and surgy outside of the cove. Significant windswell picked up significantly around 11:15am.Visibility: 10-25ft depending on the location. Large pockets of plankton blooms decreased visibility to 5 ft in certain locations.

A bit of an eventful weekend for us all up at Russian Gulch. We had a few campsites reserved for the weekend and were able to fit 11 campers and a few friendly canines Friday night. The weather was surprisingly windy through the little campground valley, but there was plenty of fire to go around. We had the fortunate coincidence of camping across from Reef Check California (http://www.reefcheck.org/california/ca-overview), whom, throughout the weekend, we exchanged some good conversation and information. Lucas was dive master and built a kayak cart to be given as a prize for the diver with the most fish points the following day.

Everyone was up and moving by 7am. It was split 50/50 between shore divers and kayakers, with a total of 12 divers. Sal was in the water for the first time after his hip surgery, and was able to stretch out his legs a little with Jim K. The launch was a little staggered, as a few kayaks took a while to make their way from camp. ​

We made it into the water around 9am. Most of the kayakers went south, and passed a few shore divers exploring the northern side of the small Point Frank peninsula. We kept paddling and eventually met up with a few shore divers at 500D. I stopped there with Gregg, and hopped in the water on the northern face of the wash rocks. Lucas and Wasen kept moving south to dive the northern wash rocks of Slaughterhouse Cove. We dove for 3 hours in tolerably rough swell. There was not much to see, and I would run into pockets of small blues, and found a few Blacks and Black & Yellows under rocks, but nothing worth taking home for dinner. Plant life was minimal, and there were pockets of dense urchins all around the wash rocks. You can view this from the short video below. Eventually as I took to the southern side of the wash rocks, I ran into Josh T, Jason, and Leo, who had just found a large Octopus in 15ft of water. This is also depicted in the video below.

By 11am, most of us were exhausted from fighting the current, and we all realized that the wind had picked up significantly and was dragging our kayaks all over the place. We quickly headed back into the cove and vegged on the beach for a few. Most people came out of the water with a small payload, but Wasen and Lucas both came in with decent fish. Wasen took the win with a well-rounded stringer of a Ling, Cabezon, Black, and nice chubby 7.8lb Vermilion. He left that day with his kayak cart prize, and the most points on the board for the annual cumulative competition.

Back at camp, Lucas fired up his full-sized smoker, which he lugged all the way from home. He cooked up a few tri-tip and his famous chili. Everyone else brought a little something to eat, so once again, we all had more food than we knew what to do with. Games were played, stories were told, and logs were burned until around midnight when most were starting to nod off around the fire, so we turned in. I was up around 7 to find most of us gone except a few. We packed up camp, headed up to Fort Bragg and got ourselves some coffee and breakfast burritos at Mara’s Coffee House. The weekend of June 9 is our campout at Manchester KOA with a dive currently scheduled at Moat Creek. I’m sorry to say there is no Big Ab Big Ling this year, but the campsite is always good fun regardless, and we have a good group going. So contact us if you’re interested in tagging along. See you out in there.

Visibility: 8-10ft, silty with a lot of kelp debris, typical of Otter Cove.

This was a special dive for me, because I grew up spending a lot of time in Pacific Grove and Monterey. My family has a beach house on Asilomar that my great grandfather built in 1948, and I grew up spending many weekends there in my youth. Unfortunately, the annual Triton Open competition was canceled due to forecasted rough swell, but this year, we had vowed to never cancel a dive, and we decided to hit up Coral Street to start our weekend. I went down after work on Friday, and a couple of the dive club members joined me at the house. We went and saw a move and relaxed. I got up around 6 to check the swell in the different dive locations.

Early in the morning, Coral street looked awful, but by the time everyone arrived at 8, the surge actually began to subside. However, we had a particularly large group of 17 guys, made up of many new members, as well as some prospects interested in joining the club. Due to having some divers with us who were a little green, we did not want to risk going into rough waters without knowing their skill levels, so the decision was made to move the crowd to Otter Cove. As the crew departed from Coral Street, 3 other members arrived and chose to stay at Coral street with Kayaks. I bid them good luck and caught up with the bulk of the crew down at Otter Cove.

We all suited up and congregated down at the beach where Alex gave a quick safety talk while people finished their final preparations.

Soon people started trickling into the water. Most of the new divers stayed close to shore diving in around 10-20 feet of water. They came out saying there were a lot of rockfish to be seen. I ventured further northwest toward oceanside with Jason. We hit about 35 feet of water, it was patchy structure with a few fish-heavy sections. I lost a ling and bounced a couple of rockfish off the rocks. ​

We exited the water and everyone unsuited, beer in hand. There was a lot shop talk for a bit, and some of the guys headed home from there.

10 of us headed back to the house for some lunch. Gregg brought a smorgasbord of food as usual to take care of the group.

We sat outside and relaxed on the sand for a few hours, and eventually went down to the beach for a time. By the end of the afternoon, most people were pretty exhausted and one by one, people headed back home. ​

Upcoming, we have our Russian Gulf dive and campout in Mendocino county on May 19th. It is number 2 of the 4 competition dives this year, however many non-comp members are coming to enjoy the swell, the weather, and the company. See you out there. ​​​

Visibility: 15ft at 30ft most of the dive, dropped to 8 ft viz by the last few dives.

We had quite the weekend up in Albion, a bit of crazy weather, and some combative swell, but a festive and enjoyable weekend with the crew.

I arrived on Friday night around 7:30, just in time for the sun to set. Alex arrived earlier that evening, and he had already set up camp and was taking a nap. Mervin came shortly after me and set up a palace of a tent. Gregg showed up with his truck camper and the dogs, and opened an EZ-up in anticipation of rain. Josh, Lucas, and Travis trickled in later that evening. Rain started around 8, and spit on our camp for an hour or so. We attached a tarp between Gregg’s camper and the EZ up, so we had plenty of space to stay dry. The rain let up to an open sky with a lot of stars, and stuck around most of the evening. The fire was lit, and we conversed and shared some steaks that Gregg brought and prepared. Around midnight, it started to rain again, and we all turned in.

Saturday morning, I woke up around 630, and got up to organize the campsite and get ready for the dive. Jim K showed up to dive for the day, but was not camping. Sal M made an appearance as well, around 730, but was not feeling well and chose to sit the dive out. He had dove the day before, so he had his fill. Most of the people started poking their heads out of tents and campers around 8am, and Gregg had bacon'n'egg Coissant-wiches ready for everyone. Albion has quarter-operated showers, so most of us ran over to put our wetsuits on in a hot'n'steamy shower, instead of suiting up feeling like icicles. By then, it had begun to rain again for an hour. People slowly trickled over to the shore with their kayaks, and most of us were in the water by 10am.

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By the time we were all in the water, the sun was out, and we all started warming up. We had three lady divers who braved the water in the cove, and Mervin and Alex shore-dove with them. Gregg and I stuck around inside the cove on our kayaks, while the rest of the crew, Travis, Josh, Lucas, Jim paddled their way out to the southern edge of the mouth and disappeared around the corner. Swell inside the cove was low, but a washing machine of surge. With all the rain in the past week, we dove the incoming tide so we didn't hit the outgoing mud coming from the river mouth and spend our time sifting through murky water. I dove just outside the beacon at around 25-40 feet. Surprisingly a lot of fish for the surge. A couple under-sized Lings, Greenling everywhere, and a small school of blues following me around. I shot a Black that was glued to the underside of a rock, and spent the rest of my time sticking half my body in the large structure around that area. Viz was about 15 feet at the bottom, but was silty as expected.By noon, the sea sickness was in full force. By the time I got the anchor up, I chummed the water and gave back to the fish Gods for the day. Getting closer to shore, I saw the shore divers were in really shallow water kicking around. I shored my kayak and joined them. Turns out, Gregg found a pocket of Dungeness crabs hanging out in shallow water.We spent the next half hour diving for crabs, all between 6-7inches, and by the time we had all exhausted ourselves, we had about 14 crabs to share between 11 people. We took them back and Gregg cooked some hot dogs while we cleaned the crab and prepped for boiling.

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Jim brought some cold-cuts for sandwiches as well, so we had quite the buffet for lunch. At this point, the sun was out, and it was a nice high 60's. Gregg, Josh, and Tianna decided to fill their mugs and take the kayaks for a casual paddle up the river. Everyone else basked in the sun, had a few beers and talking fish for a few hours. ​ Around 3, Lucas decided he wanted ice cream, so he, Tori, and myself hopped in his truck and drove up to Fort Bragg to the renowned Cowlick Creamery for a few scoops. If you ever get the chance, stop in and try their “Black Forest” flavor, it’s fantastic. We stopped by Jug Handle on our way back to check the swells, and it was a negative tide with huge waves rolling. We contemplated getting up in the morning and heading back there to try our luck with the swell. When we got back to camp, cooking stations were in full force. Gregg brought a Tri-Tip and vegetables, the crab was still fresh, and Lucas got started on his classic dutch oven Chili that he makes every camping event.

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A couple of us watched the sun go down, and made our way back to the campsite for dinner. The rest of the evening was spent gorging ourselves whilst sharing whiskey and beer. The last troopers turned in around midnight.

We all arose in the morning to partly cloudy skies and started taking down camp. We hesitated a little too long watching the swell and by the time people worked up the motivation to get in the water, we had to evacuate the campsite. The crew caravanned down highway 128, stopping at Gowan’s Oak Tree Fruit Stand for some crazy delicious unpasteurized apple juice, and then at Boonville General Store for some brunch. There were hugs all around, and we parted ways to end solid first camping trip for NCSD 2018.

Next one's the Triton Open. Sharpen those tips and get ready for some serious competition.

Author: Justin YasutakeLocation: Caspar Beach, club comp dive #1Divemaster: Wasen Van Ventura​Weather: 35˚-40˚F in the morning, 45˚-50˚F around mid day. Mostly overcast in the morning with intermittent showers 10-11am. Sun came out around 11am and remained intermittent through lunch.Ocean: Water temperature 47˚F. SW swell (contrary to the NNW forecast), ranged from calm to moderate surge, 2-3ft in the cove, moderate swell up to 5-6ft at the mouth of the cove. Surge disappeared around 33ft. Visibility: Water was silty and hazy. Visibility 8-10ft above 28ft, 10-20ft below 28ft.

Gregg and I pulled into the Safeway gas station in good ol' Willits to throw some gas in the truck and get a few pick-me-up snacks. I took a moment to check the forecast and weather again before losing service through the hills. I was alarmed to find the thermometer suggesting it was a balmy 23˚F outside. We bundled up a little more and prepared for a cold day under the surface.

We arrived a little after 8am to Wasen already dragging his kayak down to the shoreline, looking pumped and ready to get in the water. Wasen V, Mervin P, Jim K, Josh T, Gregg S, and myself made it to the dive. There was a small briefing, and we spent our time drinking coffee, assessing the swell, and laughing about how horribly cold the water was going to be. We waited until about 8:30am to see if any others would show, then suited up.

Wasen, Jim, and myself launched the kayaks around 9. Josh and Gregg waited behind with their coffees to enjoy some warmth for just a minute longer. Mervin was our only shore diver, cheers to him for kicking out the entire way on a float tube and keeping up with the paddlers. It was much calmer on the south side of the cove, so we anchored up around the headland wash rocks near the mouth. Everyone hopped in around 9:30 and started searching.

As soon as I jumped off the kayak, I knew it would be a short dive. My Suunto clocked the water at 47˚, and it felt colder than that. My dives averaged 35ft for the first hour where I found a 27inch Lingcod at the bottom of a pinnacle 20 yards off the headland wash rocks. It started raining around that time, and lightly persisted for an hour or so. Josh finally caught up to us about a half hour into the dive. He had a big tear in his suit, acquired from our dive trip to the Channel Islands the weekend prior, but got in the water anyway. Cheers to his dedication in the cold weather. ​

By 11:30am, most people were taking refuge from the water on their kayaks and paddling around on the surface. The sun had finally emerged and it was nice to feel a little warmth. Wasen wanted to keep going, so when everyone else headed in, he paddled outside of the mouth to see if he could get around the point and I followed. Swell was starting to kick up a little, so we kept it inside the cove. We crossed to the north side of the cove where there was a bit of surge, so we hopped in and splashed around for a bit. A little after noon, we decided to call it a day and started paddling back in.

When the kayaks were racked and everyone was dry and warm, we caravaned our way to Mendocino. After finally finding a place that could host a party of our size, we settled in on the outdoor patio of the Mendocino cafe with a good view of the Mendocino bay and a few comfy patio heaters around us. We enjoyed some clam chowder, burgers, and Wasen ordered a fancy "Fire Pot."

One of my favorite things about our little hobby is no matter the conditions or the fish take, any day I can get in the water always winds up being a good day. I am proud of our club, and aloha to the boys that made the trip out to endure the tide with me.

We got to the park at about 8am and drank our coffees and hung out in the parking lot. We put a small pot together of $40 to go to the biggest fish of the day. The ten divers split up into 2 groups (kayaks and floats).

The 5 kayakers (Wasen, Brian, Brandon, Aaron, and Bill) paddled out of the launch toward the rocks to the South. The shore guys (Gregg, Alex, Sal, Mervin, and Myself) hiked down the trail and got in at the cove. Wasen and Bill later broke off from Brian, Brandon, and Aaron and paddled over to the cove to dive away from the wash rocks with us shore divers. Alex yelled and lifted up a nice Cabezon, while two hook and line fishermen on the cliff above looked down with some frustration.

​ Gregg, Alex, Mervin, and I got out of the water and spent an hour or so gathering 15 to 20 lbs of mussels that we shared with the rest of the divers, so everyone went home with something. As the divers got back up to the lot, we around the nice sandwiches and chips that Wasen and Andria had brought to share in the picnic area and opened up a few beers to relax. Everyone made it in and out safely and we had a nice day of diving considering the soupy water. And Alex went home with an extra $40 for the biggest fish of the day, a nice 6.12 lb 23 3/4" Cabezon.

The crew met at Coral Street around 8:30am to assess the swell ocean side. There were some breakers at Coral, with swell looking around 4-6 feet, but it was extremely choppy, so we decided to head more bayside to Otter Cove. Attendees were myself, Alex Watson, Josh Thorndike, Gregg Shimaura, Mervin Pan, Jason Demers, and Jason's younger brother Aaron. Several other members, Aaron Bever, Dennis Belcher, and Wasen Van Ventura took kayaks out of Stillwater South the same morning.

Once we all settled into the new destination, we assessed the water and enjoyed the sun, as it was warming up around 9am. We started noticing an unusually significant amount of debris in the water, and Alex made a note that a sailboat had crashed nearby recently. After suiting up, we started making trips down to the water to pull some of the garbage out of the water as we saw it shoring. Significant items were taken, I pulled a full canvas sail out of the water, a black duffel bag, and an REI jacket. I believe the jacket was still intact and Jason's wife wound up taking it home. I took home a mesh bottom bag which was used to hold the sails, which you see in the below photograph. There were even parts of the boat washing up on shore, so were able to pull some of those large fiberglass pieces out of the water.

We eventually made it in the water around 9:30-10:00am. I immediately began to swim to the left where I found several curious harbor seals tailing me. Most people made it about 100-200 yards from our launch point. As we dove, we continued to find various debris floating around on the surface. On several occasions, Gregg came swimming up to me wearing a newly discovered baseball cap. He came home with two of them. Around 11:30, the divers were starting to head back to shore, and I followed suit by noon. I came in with 2 Grass Rocks, a Black Rock, and a Monkey-Faced Eel. Several others came in with various Rockfish. When walking to our cars, several enthusiastic tourists wanted to take pictures of our fish, so we happily obliged. When everyone was out of the water and dry, we made our way a few blocks over to Lover's Point, and everyone grabbed a bite at the Cafe there. It was a surprisingly sunny day, and people were out and about in swimsuits, a strange thing to see in the middle of January. It was a long weekend for all of us, as we had our club's breakfast meeting the day before, we were all fairly worn out. We said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways to end the weekend, and all in all was a great way to kick off our 2018 year.